The COI Collection Volume Seven: The Queen on Tour

Volume Seven of the COI Collection, The Queen on Tour, celebrates the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. As Whitehall’s publicity agency, the COI – with unprecedented access to the royals – was the natural choice to produce official records of royal tours and state visits. In addition, it commissioned and supervised a variety of retrospectives on the Queen and her family.

Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne during a time of unparalleled change, both at home and abroad. Yet, despite the turbulent backdrop against which many royal tours and state visits were filmed, the onscreen images here maintain a diplomatic serenity; it was, and still is, the Queen’s (and the COI’s) job to cultivate strong relationships in a post-colonial world.

Highlights of the collection include: Royal Destiny (1953), a look at the Queen’s early life, made in the year of her coronation;The Queen’s State Visit to Iran (1961), a fascinating film of the royal visit to Iran eight years after a British and American-backed coup installed the Shah; Sierra Leone Greets the Queen (1962), a colourful record of the Queen’s visit in the year of independence; Britain Welcomes the Emperor and Empress of Japan (1971), marking the controversial state visit from Emperor Hirohito and his wife.

Disc one

• Royal Destiny (1953)
• Southward with Prince Philip (1957)
• Princess Margaret in Mauritius and East Africa (1957)
• Life of a Queen (1960)
• The Queen’s State Visit to Iran (1961)
• Royal Children (1961)
• Queen Elizabeth II in Pakistan (1961)

Disc two

• Sierra Leone Greets the Queen (1961)
• Britain Welcomes the President of India (1963)
• The Royal Tour of the Caribbean (1966)
• Britain Welcomes the President of Pakistan (1966)
• A state Visit to Turkey by Queen Elizabeth II (1971)
• Britain Welcomes the Emperor and Empress of Japan (1971)